Cursed Movies

Can a movie be cursed? There are a bunch of movies that have had horrible accidents on set, and unfortunate deaths after filming.  In reality, accidents do happen, and people die every day. However – There have been a bunch of horror movies that are considered “cursed”. And some of the things that happened have been pretty creepy. 

• The Omen (1976) – This movie really had a lot happen: 

• • The hotel that director Richard Donner was staying at was bombed by the IRA.
  • Producer Harvey Bernhard was almost struck by lightning.  
  • Screenwriter David Seltzer, producer Mace Neufeld, and Gregory Peck were each on a plane that was struck by lightning.  
  • A plane that Peck was supposed to be on crashed. There were no survivors.
  • Peck’s son Johnathan killed himself shortly before filming started. 
  • A couple of dogs attacked their trainers.  
  • Some of the crew were in a car accident.
  • One of the baboon handlers was killed by a tiger after filming the movie.
  • After the movie was filmed – Special effects artist John Richardson and his girlfriend Liz Moore were in a car accident. Moore was decapitated. It happened on Friday the 13th.

• The Exorcist (1973) – So much happened with this movie, that people started to think it really was cursed:
  • When it was first released it frightened people so bad that some of them either vomited or fainted. One woman fainted and broke her jaw when she fell. 
  • Actor Jack MacGowran died of the flu just before the movie was released. 
  • Jason Miller (Father Karras) was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident during filming.
  • Vasiliki Maliaros (she played Father Karras’s mother) died before the movie was released. 
  • Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, and other people working on the movie also lost family members.  
  • Actress Ellen Burstyn got a spinal injury on set. She was pulled too hard while wearing a harness and then fell to the floor. She ended up on crutches for part of filming.  
  • Linda Blair had a motorcycle accident, fell off a horse, and hurt her back during production. 
  • The house that the movie was filmed in burned in a fire. Except for “Reagan’s” bedroom. 
  • When the movie opened in Rome, the cross on top of the church across from the theatre was struck by lightning.

• The Crow (1994) –  Another movie that was plagued with accidents. And one huge tragedy. I don’t really consider it a horror movie – but it does have some supernatural elements to it:
  • While the lighting for a scene was being set up, a crew member accidentally drove into a ditch. While he was being helped out, the cherry picker touched an electrical pole, and the man was electrocuted. His internal organs were burned and he barely survived.
  • A prop truck on set caught fire for no reason.
  • A stunt man was preparing for a scene and fell through a roof. He broke several ribs.
  • A carpenter was electrocuted when the metal girder he was working on touched some power lines. He had burns on his face, neck, and chest.
  • There was a hurricane during filming that destroyed part of the set.
  • The set was almost completely destroyed. The big question is how. One version of the story says a disgruntled sculptor drove into the set, destroying the plaster shop. Another version says that he lost control of his car.
  • A member of the art department had a screwdriver go through their hand.
  • And of course, Brandon Lee was accidentally killed during filming on March 31, 1993.  The prop master didn’t inspect the gun before loading it with blanks. Actor Michael Masse (“Funboy”) shot Lee at close range.  The bullet pierced Lee’s aorta and doctors couldn’t save him.

• Poltergeist (1982) – Several members of the cast of Poltergeist died in tragic ways:
  • Lou Perryman, who played a construction worker in the movie, was axed to death by an ex-convict in his own home.
  • Heather O’Rourke, who played Carol Anne, died from a heart attack. It was brought on by complications from the flu.  She was twelve.
  • Dominique Dunne played Carol Anne’s big sister, Dana. Dunne was strangled by an abusive boyfriend. She was on life support for five days before she died. She was twenty-two.

• Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Some people believe that the satanic theme of the movie caused a curse:
  • Producer William Castle received threatening letters because of the film. One of them said “Bastard. Believer of Witchcraft. Worshipper at the Shrine of Satanism. My prediction is you will slowly rot during a long and painful illness which you have brought upon yourself”. Shortly after, Castle was rushed to the hospital with kidney failure. In the emergency room, he supposedly yelled “Rosemary, for God’s sake drop the knife.”
  • Krzysztof Komeda, the film’s composer, died after filming of a brain hematoma at thirty-eight.
  • On August 9, 1969 members of the Manson family broke into the home of director Roman Polanski. Five people were murdered, including Polanski’s pregnant wife Sharon Tate.

• The Conjuring (2013) – Apparently if you’re gonna make a movie about evil spirits, they’re not going to like it:

• • The Perron family (who the film is based on) visited the set during filming. When they were there the wind started gusting. It was so bad that it knocked Carolyn Perron onto her back and sent her to the hospital.
  • The hotel that the cast and crew were staying at caught fire and they had to be evacuated.
  • Vera Farmiga’s laptop had unexplained claw marks across it. Claw marks also appeared on one of her thighs.

So even if you don’t believe in curses – you have to admit that some of those things were pretty damn freaky!